Printing ink



' pearance.

Patented Apr. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENTi OFl-ICE PRINTING INK Otto 1?. Berberich, Jersey City, N. J., assignor to In'terchemical Corporation, New York, N. Y., a

corporation of I Ohio No Drawing. Application April 10, 1945,

e A e Serial N0. 587,621

', e 4Claims.

in the printing of newspapers and similar porous stocks, and is directed-at thepro'duction of new inks of this type characterized by adequate pressstability for newspaper ink, combined with marked rubproofness and much improved ap- Printing of newspapers, telephone books and magazines on porous stock differs from other printing operations in that very high press speeds are required, the stock is very absorbent and the ultimate cost" of the finished product is of paramount importance; The usual cheap inks for this purpose are made bydispersing pigment in very high boiling (and hence press-stable) petroleum fractions whichare known to the trade as ink-oils. Such inks are non-drying in the ordinary sense (i. e; non-film forming), but dry by penetration of the oil into the porous stock to a point where the printed product may be handled. However, this penetration occurs for along time after printing and consequently the attainment of real drying i's very slow. Moreover, if downward penetration is too great, the print be comes visible from the opposite" side of the paper, and creates the condition known" as strikethrough, which necessitates the use of rather heavy news stock-with theinks now commercially available; or if outward penetration or spreading of the ink is too great, it causes a lack of clarity in the outlines of the printed matter.

Another objection to the standard news inks is gilsonite to the ink, to bind the pigment. However, if sufficient resin is added to' produce a rub-proof print,'the ink is too viscous for newsprinting. If the viscosity is reduced by adding thinning solvents, the resultant inkwill not have the desirable press-stability. (Press-stability in a newspaper plant means that an inked form must turn over after the press has been idle for almost a week, on the Sunday editions-it is economically unsound to wash the -presses, and hence they must be utilizable with the ink on the press.) I have discovered that a news ink can be made 'which shows markedly reduced strike-through,

is smudge-resistant and still has the desired property of drying so slowly on a press that it can be turned over after almost a week's idleness without cleaning up. My news inks consist of pig ments dispersed in vehicles containing essentially from 20 to 40% of Utah coal resin, from 1 to 2 times as much news ink oil, and suflicient additional solvent of the kerosene type-from 20 to 50% of the vehicle-to reduce the viscosity to that required for newsprinting.

The news ink oil used in the typical ink oil of the tradea non-drying petroleum oil with a rather high viscosity (ca. 0.5 poise to 10.0 poises), which yields an ink of from about 1 to 20 poises viscosity at 25 C., when sufficient pigment is incorporated. The solution of any substantial quantity of a resinin such an ink oil produces a product of considerably higher viscosity than is desirable.

Merely dissolving a resin in the ink oil will not produce a smudge-resistant film, Utah coal resin seems to be almost unique, in its efi'ect on these petroleum oils in producing smudge-resistance; the only other resin we havefound which has similar properties is limed rosin containing 6 to 8% calcium calculated as Ca( OH) 2, anddescribed and claimed in co-pending application Serial No. 587,620, filed April 10, 1945 (Patent No. 2,439,380).

It is essential that thelratio of ink oil to Utah coal resin should not be in excess of 2 to 1; if this ratio is exceeded, the ink will not show the marked resistance to smudging which is a principal feature of the inks of our invention. However, if the ratio of ink-oil to resin falls below 1 to 1, the ink fails to show the necessary pressstability.

Obviously, the inclusion of /2 to 1 part by weight of resin to apart of oil produces a product of far greater viscosity than that of the oil itself. Hence, it is necessary to reduce the viscosity of the mixture; We do this with a petroleum solvent having viscosity characteristics not essentially difierent from kerosene, and which is no more volatile than kerosene. Ordinary kerosene may be used, but I prefer low-viscosity low-solvency solvents of the type described in the Gessler et al. Patent No. 2,285,430, which are somewhat lessvolatile than kerosene, have only slightly higher viscosities, and have considerably lower solvency. e

None of these low viscosity solvents are pressstable for more than possibly overnight, and hence largely evaporate from the ink on the press long before a weeks shutdown is over. However, if at least about as much ink oil is present as resin, the press will still turn over, the ink containing sufiicient residual solvent plus ink oil to keep it wet enough for the purpose.

In order to get the necessary viscosity the kerosene must be kept between a minimum of and a maximum of 50%.

The Uta h coal esin may beobtained by various means iromwesin bearing Utah coals. Theresin may be separated from the bulk of the coal either by froth flotation or by sink and float means; the concentrate resulting generally has a small percentage of coal present. This impure resin may be used in making our black inks; the coal is separated in the centrifugal ,use'd for cleaning up the ink. When this crude is used, its coal content must be considered in determining the amount of resin used. We prefer to use the'coalfree resin; and, Wherever possible, we prefer to use .the lighter colored resin obtainable byseparation of the dark asphaltic-like constituents by solvent treatment in known manner.

Typical examples of my invention, are the following:

Example 1 .+Vcrm'sh 'Parts by Weight Utah coal resin solvent treated light-color"- 382 News ink oil (-non-volatilepet-i oleum oil-viscosity0.4 poise at 30 C.) 42.5

o are heated to 220 C. to solution, and are thinned with 19.3 parts by weight of low solvency kerosene (aniline number IVE-boiling-range 420-530 C.)

This yields avarnish with a viscosity of 11 poi-sesat 30 C.

Example 2.-.-:Blac7c ink:

A black ink can be made from the varnish by grinding- Parts by weight Carbon black, 12.3

Varnish of Example 1 68.4

Low solvency kerosene of Example 1 19.30

- not only definitely rub-resistant, but which are considerably sharper than conventionalnews ink prints, particularly in the halftones.

Example 3v.e- -i-Toned ink A blacker :newsyink-can be -rnade by using the following ingredients:

Parts by weight Methyl violet toner -g 2.00

Induline toner 2.00

Varnish-ojExanip 67.75 Low solvency kerosene (aniline number 176b.oi1ing range 420-530" F 17.00

This ink is made as in Example 2; it has a viscosity of about 4 poisesat 30 C., and is noticeab y lac e than t e-ink QLEXani e proximately equal ,proportionse-i e. none: @13 the 7 4 The vehicle contains about 31% resin, about 34% ink oil. and about 35% kerosene.

Example 4.--C'omic ink As typical of the colored inks which are used forSunday comic supplements, we prepare a red ink from- Parts by weight This ink hasa viscosity of about 12 poises at 30 "0.; it is heavier in viscosity than the black inks because of the different printing requirements. Like the blacks, it gives improved printing, and the printed paper is much more resistant to smudging than-conventional The vehicle contains about 3 4% resin about 37% i o l, an about 29% k rosen 1.;b noted thatin .thesepreferred examples-the vehicles in everycasecontain the ingredients pparticular, the ratio otink oil resin can be raised up to the indicated limitroia ,u :2-- to.1,

with a slight increase inpress lite; but-;=the;, 2:to .1 ratio h ul n tb exo eded, :or ,J niud e resistance is lost. Similarly, the amounts of Utah, coal r s n and k ro e cm y b v nt d as indicated.

d pend n o theanionn oiko t. n -iscosity desired in the-news ink rangeof tfromiabout 1 to 20 poisestat 30C.

u th rmo t e spe ifi ink i'l a diserosenes shown may besubstituted :by other eknewn oils, and by substantially anymetroleum distillate in the kerosene-range.

small percentages ofg-aidditives suchses grease, wax, -etc., may be incorporated.intotherfvehicle; t t a y it shou d; not beisubstantiei yvened from the indicated composition.

I claim:

1. A press-stable news ink having improved smudge-resistance and showing reduced strikethrough, comprisingpigment: dispersedfin aavehicle consisting essentially of 20% tic-49% of Utah coal resin, from 1 to 2 times its weight of aznews ink oil, and from 20% to 50% of keroseneatlre proportions of the ingredientsbeingsnchfis to yield an ink with a;viscosityof-imam-{about ,1t'0220 poises at '30 C.

2. A p ss-s e --n w ink avin improved through, comprising pigment dispersewin vehi- 5 i 6 dc consisting essentially of approximately equal proportions by weight of Utah coal resin, news FOREIGN PATENTS ink oil, and low solvency kerosene. Number Country Date OTTO BERBERICH, 423,751 Great Britain Feb. '7, 1935 5 OTHER REFERENCES REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 3%?;:%Z g 322 21? :5 dithogmpmc file of this patent:

39,968 Steinert Sept. 15, 1863 

